by You probably don’t feel your best when you stay up until the wee hours of the night. But beyond just waking up, new research says that late bedtimes can harm your mental health.
In a recent study published inPsychiatry Research, experts analyzed sleep and health data from 73,888 people in the UK Biobank. Those who regularly went to bed after 1 am were more likely to have mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety than those who went to bed before 1 am.
It did not matter if the subjects classified themselves as usually early birds or night owls (also known as your chronotype) – going to bed after 1:00 hurt people mentally, the study found. In fact, night owls who went to bed after 1 am were more likely to experience mental health effects. People who went to bed before 1am had the fewest mental health diagnoses.
There are some limitations to this study: The people who make up the UK Biobank are mostly white and middle-aged or older, according to Dr Indira Gurubagavatula, professor of medicine in the Department of Sleep Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania , was … not. affiliated with the study.
“And how they determined what chronotype you are from one question, even though they used one that’s been validated. But usually the way we assess is in the morning or in the evening with a much more thorough questionnaire with much more detailed questions,” said Gurubagavatula. Meaning, whether people are really morning people or night owls may not be completely accurate in this study.
In addition, researchers relied on mental health diagnosis data contributed by doctors. This type of reported data can be inaccurate or doctors can miss a diagnosis, Gurubagavatula said. That said, she noted that the results are in line with what she would expect and said that this study should be replicated in other populations as well.
Going to bed late has many negative effects on your mental health – and your overall health.
“In general, if you’re not going to bed until after 1 in the morning or 2 in the morning, chances are you won’t wake up until several hours after sunrise. And you won’t be going to sleep for several hours after the sun goes down, so I think this issue … being out of alignment with the light-dark cycle of the environment is a problem that d ‘could be,’ said Matthew Lehrer, assistant professor. in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, which is not affiliated with the study.
It is important for our bodies to receive strong signals that it is during the day, which can come in the form of the morning sun. If you’re not getting those signals or you’re getting mixed signals, it can cause problems with your biology, which can also affect your brain, Lehrer said.
“The authors also pointed out that there are several brain-related mechanisms beyond circadian misalignment. More activity at night is associated with more impulsive and maladaptive behavior,” Lehrer said. “There are a number of mechanisms in the brain that are related to behavior and impulsivity and inhibition… when you’re awake longer and later, those things tend to decrease and so may be associated with poor mental health too.”
Gurubagavatula noted that some brain functions are more vulnerable to sleep loss than others.
“So, for example, maybe you can chew gum, you can talk, you can walk, but the frontal lobe of the brain is very vulnerable to lack of sleep,” Gurubagavatula said. The frontal lobe is responsible for many of our brain functions, including mood and emotional regulation.
“Thus, our ability not to swing wildly from one emotion to another – that ability to suppress ourselves – is weakened under conditions of lack of sleep or staying up very late at night,” said Gurubagavatula. “Then it can lead to more negativity, more anxiety … because the higher brain functions that control those emotions are worse.”
What about people — like shift workers — who have to go to bed after 1 am?
All of this can be very harmful, especially if you have a job that requires you to go to bed after 1 a.m. Both experts said there are things you can do to reduce the negative impact of bedtime to minimize lateness and to get more sleep as well.
Napping is the first step. “Strategic sleep is one type of sleep, which happens during transition when you know you’re having a period of slump when it’s so hard to stay awake, your eyes are closed. It will be very effective to use that time to take a nap if you can,” said Gurubagavatula.
“And then there’s the other thing called a preemptive nap. So before the transition even starts, you go into the transition as well as you can be,” said Gurubagavatula, noting that it is best to keep your naps to 20 or 30 minutes.
Another strategy for night shift workers is “bright light exposure during work hours, if possible,” Lehrer said. “This would be artificial light, like light boxes for individuals with seasonal affective disorder … they’re very bright, have fatigue-reducing and mood-boosting properties.”
It is also important to follow a specific eating schedule. “Keeping more of a day-focused eating schedule can also be helpful, which can help with mood. It is shown in a simulated night temporary work. “People in the lab ate their meals during the day and had greater improvements in mood compared to those who ate at night,” Lehrer said.
A cool, dark and quiet bedroom can also help you sleep better, according to both experts.
Moreover, if you seem unable to receive the recommendation seven to nine hours of sleep, Gurubagavatula said it is important to be aware that you may have a sleep disorder. In this case, it is a good idea to see a sleep specialist.
“I think most people are starting to understand about this that it really is essential and that we treat sleep as a bonus. It is a biological necessity,” said Gurubagavatula. “And we can’t go without it like air, food and water.”
